ARRANGED MARRIAGE

It’s 8:00 and dinner’s ready. My mother calls me down and me and my two older brothers get downstairs, my brothers play fighting as they go downstairs. “Watch out for Dionne, Patrick!” Anthony says. I walk downstairs, a plain expression on my face. 

“Boys!” my father yells suddenly. I jump at how loud he gets. “Stop with the playing!” he yells again.

“Yes sir.” They both say, sitting at the table.

“Benjamin, calm down, they’re boys.” Says my mother.

“Watch your tongue.” Father spat back.

I sit at the table, not saying anything. My father, sitting at the head of the table, looks at me with his eyebrow up. “Dionne, where are your manners?” he says.

“Sorry father. Good evening. Good evening, mother.” I say, bowing my head to both of them.

“Why don’t you get up and get me a beer?” he says to me with an evil smirk on his face.

“Yes, father.” I say, respectfully.

I’m always used to this treatment. Sit back, be respectful, don’t put up a fuss, do what I’m told, and I’ll be fine. I recall the one time I talked back to my father and denied him. I still have bruises to this day. My mother’s a flower. She’s sweet and she’s nothing like my father. She’s what an ideal mother is and looks like. She’s beautiful and keeps up her image, that’s where I get it from. I don’t know how she got mixed up with my father and his anger, but through it all she manages to keep a smile on her face.

I go to the refrigerator and I open one of its large doors and I grab my father a beer. I return it to him with a bow and he scoffs and grabs my wrist as I walk off.

“You stupid girl! You didn’t bother to open it?” he screams at me. 

“I apologize, father.” I say, fear starting to consume me.

“Benjamin let her go.” My mother says calmly.

‘Stay out of it, Amelia.” He retorts. 

“I’ll open it for you, darling.” My mother offers.

He looks from me to my mother, and with a huff, Father lets me go and I hurriedly walk back to my seat at the table. I sit with my head down and I can feel my brothers’ sympathetic eyes on me, but I’m too embarrassed to look back.

When mother serves the food, Father picks up his knife and fork and cuts savagely into his steak, taking a huge bite out of it. I pick with my food as everyone else eats and my dad’s voice booms as he starts to speak to me.

“It’d be wise you eat. You’re already a thin, fragile looking thing.” He says, bursting into laughter.

Nobody else bothers to laugh.

“Speaking of you, I have an announcement.” He says.

I raise my head getting excited.

Usually when there’s an announcement, it’s usually about dad and something he accomplished but now, it’s for me. I wonder what it could be.

“Yes Father?” I say, trying to hide my excitement.

“I’ve spoken to another very powerful family in this mafia world and we’ve agreed on an arranged marriage.” He says, a maniacal smile on his face.

My face turns pale as I process his words.

Anthony stands up and slams his hands on the table.

“What?!” he yells. “You’re giving her away?” he screams again.

“Lower your voice when you speak to me, boy!” Father yells, causing Anthony to scoff and aggressively sit back in his seat.

Patrick stares over at me, sadness and anger written all over his face.

“I don’t get a say in this?” I ask, tears filling my eyes.

“No. You don’t. I’m glad to see you go anyway. It’s one less mouth to feed and one less face to see.” He says sipping his beer.

“Why didn’t I ever hear of this, Benjamin?” my mom asks.

“Because you’d try to stop it. I’ve no time to deal with Xavier and his family.” 

I freeze, the hairs on my neck standing up.

The Xavier Foster?

The ruthless, merciless, most notorious and feared mafia king out there?

No … No there’s no way.

“M-May I be excused?” I ask my father, as I tremble, tears starting to fall down my face.

“Go on.” He says, shooing me away.

I quickly walk upstairs to my room and I close my door, then the tears start to flow.

My dad’s giving me away to the coldest person in the world and he doesn’t even care. I can’t say I expected different of him. I always knew this day would come, but I never imagined marrying a ruthless, vile person such as Xavier Foster. My door opens and my brother, Patrick, walks in and sits on my bed, where I am.

“Dionne, I’m so sorry.” He says, hugging me.

“I wish things could be different.”

“Me too. I don’t want to leave.” I say, sobbing on his shoulder.

The door bursts open and there stands my father.

“Dionne.” He says.

“Father.” I say, quickly wiping my eyes.

“The meeting of your new husband will be on tomorrow. Be ready. We mustn’t be late.” He says, then he slams my door, making me jump.

After Patrick leaves, and dinner is done, my father demands that I do the dishes, so I walk downstairs and I meet my mother at the sink. 

“You didn’t have to come down, sweetheart.” Says mother, sweetly.

“You know what Father would’ve done if I hadn’t.” I say, joking it off.

“If I had known, I wouldn’t have gone for it, Dionne. But I don’t have a choice. The meeting is only tomorrow.” She says.

“I can’t really back out either, can I?” I ask.

“I’m sorry, but you can’t honey.” She says, washing a plate.

“I knew your brothers would be upset if they’d found out you were leaving them. That’s why I never wanted to break an arranged marriage to them that way.” She says softly. 

“I get it. I’ll talk to Anthony.” I say.

“Go on. I’ll tell your father you finished your chores.”

“Thanks, Mother.” I say, leaving a kiss on her cheek.

I leave to go upstairs to Anthony’s room, and he’s throwing things, yelling.

“Anthony?” I say, quietly.

He looks back at me, breathing heavily with anger in his eyes.

“Come in.” he says, coming to close the door behind me.

I walk in and he walks behind me, pacing.

“He can’t do this to you. You’re still a baby. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you, Dionne.” He says, careful not to let Father hear him.

“I know, Anthony, but I’m 19. It was going to happen anyway.”

“So you’re okay with this?”

“I have to be. The meeting’s tomorrow, there’s nothing I can do.”

“Only tomorrow? He’s fucking sick.” Anthony says.

There’s a soft knock on the door and Mother opens the door.

“It’s time for your beauty rest darling. Do your skincare routine before you go to bed.” She says, a smile on her face. 

“Yes mother.” I say, bowing.

“Oh stop it. You only need do it when your father’s around.” She says quietly, careful not to let him hear.

“Goodnight Anthony.” I say.

“Yeah. Goodnight.” He says, still fuming.

I’m meeting my new husband tomorrow. 

Tomorrow, the day I’m dreading.

It won’t be the first time I’ve dreaded tomorrow, and granted what’s happening right now, I doubt it’ll be the last.